Chain tightener



July 6 1.926. 1,591,368

J. T. DELANEY CHAIN TIGHTENER Filed Nov. 25, 1 25 J17. flezaney PatentedJuly 6,1926;

- UNITED STATES JOHN 'r.v DELANIEiY, or nonnwAY, Iowa.

. CHAIN 'rrenrnnnn' 7 Application filed November 23, 1925. /Serial No.70,939,

i The invention relates to improvements in' devices for drawing the endsof tire chains toward each other while connecting said ends with theusual fasteners, and simply by providing the device with different formsof engagingelements, it could well be used for drawin together the endsof wires,

when splicili g or stretching them.

It is the object of the invention to pro vide an exceptionally sim'l aleand inexpensive device of the character set forth, yet one which will beefficient, very desirable, easily operable, and compactly foldable.

lVith the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subjectmatter hereinafter described and claimed, the description beingsupplemented by; the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the application of the inventionto a the chain. Figure 2 is a perspective view showing 1 the tightenerpartly folded.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the devicein completelyfolded positionr p In the drawing above briefly described,

7 the numeral 1 designates an elongated hand lever having a hook 2 orother engaging ele-- ment at its front end, said .leverbeing providedwith a laterally projecting stud 3 which is spaced rearwardly from saidengaging element. A lateral arm a has one of its ends loosely pivoted at5 to thelever 1 at I a point between the stud .3 and theengaging element2, the free end of said arm being formed with a hook as; other desiredtype of engaging element. Loosely pivoted at one of its ends to the freeend portion of the arm 5, is a link 7 the pivot of this link beingdesignated at 8. ,This link extends obliquely from the 2111114 andpasses across the lever 1, behind the stud 3, the front edge of saidlink having a plurality of spaced. teeth 9, any of which maybe engagedwith the stud, so as to hold the lever l andarm l in fixed relationafter the'device has been operated, for instance to draw two ends of atire chain together. I j i I V A spring metal strip 10 is disposedlongitudinally of the lever 1 and has its front end secured to the frontportion of said lever by a rivet 11 orother preferred means. This metalstrip extends rearwardly across the 3 link 7 and is under such tensionas to ;frictionally bind said link between the spring and the lever 1,as shown in full lines in Fig.

preferably followed.

1, the link being then swung rearwardly so that its teeth 9 are out ofengagement with thegstud 3. Thelever 1 may now be operated in adirection to cause-the engaging elements 2 and 6 to move toward eachother for drawingthe ends of the chain inwardly, and during thismovement,the'link 7 will slide between the spring 10 and the lever 1 butwill be frictionally held against'falling outofpla'ce, even'should theuntoothed edge.

of'the link be disposed downwardly. Thus,

-1,591,368 PA-TENT omics,

as soon as the ends. of the chain havebeen drawn together to therequired extent, the

link 7 is in readiness to be slid forwardly between the lever 1 and thespringlO, so that v one of its teeth 9 will engage 'th-e stud 3,holding'the device in the position to which it has beenmoved, while theends of the chain or the like are being connected. Then, the link may beeasily disengagedfrom the stud and the tool removed from the chain.

As disclosed in Figs. 2 and 3,"the;deviceis easily foldable when its useis not necessary and hence, it will require little space in a'toolpocket'orcompartment"of amachine.

. Excellent results havebeen obtainedfrom I at a point between said studand said enaging element, the free endot said arm havlng an additionalengaging element, an

oblique link having one of itsends pivoted tosald arm near saidfree endthereof, said link extending slidably across said lever behind said studand having teeth to engage i the latter, whereby to hold the lever andarm in different relative positions,- and a. spring" metal'strip securedto the front end portion of said lever, said strip extending rearward lyacross said link, and frictionally'holding the latter against saidlever.

' In testimony whereof I have hereunto aflixed my signature.

JOHN T. DELANEY.

